WHERE IS THE SPIRIT?

What has happened to the Spirit of Christmas?

If you watch all the Hallmark Christmas movies, you will see Hollywood's version of the same story, over and over again.  In fact if you watch more than five of them, you will be able to write the ending to the story all by yourself.

What is the Spirit of Christmas anyway? Or should I say who is the Spirit of Christmas?

I was taught to believe that the Reason for Christmas is the Birth of Jesus, and the Spirit of Christmas is Santa Claus.  I still believe in the Reason, but I'm not sure I still believe in the Spirit.

When I was a child, there was only one Santa Claus.  He rode in on his sleigh during the Santa Claus parade put on by Eatons' store and then you visited that same Santa later on at the Eaton's store.  Santa was the same man to every child in the city - in fact you could go to school as a young child and discuss him with all your friends, because they all had visited the same man as you.  He wasn't seen on TV, or on billboards, or anywhere other than sitting on his guilded Santa chair in Eaton's store.  He was the real deal.  Santa Claus was the kindly friend who never forgot a child, who considered each child a precious thing - precious enough to bring ONE gift every Christmas Eve.  It might not have been the gift you asked him to bring you, but in the end it didn't matter, because he always knew what you liked or wished for, even when you were not sure yourself!

Now-a-days, Santa Claus is the over commercialized gift-giving Guru that looks different every time you see him - and you see him everywhere.  In fact, he now is not even Santa Claus, he's really Santa's helper.   He accepts wish lists a mile long, and he is known to deliver every item on the lists of some of the luckier children.

It seems our greedy society has completely forgotten what the "Spirit of Christmas" is supposed to be about, and they have certainly turned the man who has personified that Spirit for hundred's of years, into a commercial joke.

A real man, who lived in the 4th Century and was born in the Greek city of Myra ( now Turkey) is the reason we celebrate the "Spirit" of Christmas in the first place.   He was an early Christian Bishop during the time of the Roman Empire, and his name was Saint Nicholas. 

Saint Nicholas was a healer and a helper to all in need.  He is considered the Patron Saint of many peoples, including children.  His legendary habit of gift-giving gave rise to our present day Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas' remains lay in the Basilica di San Nicola in Bari Italy, to this very day!

Saint Nicholas is Venerated in Anglicanism, Baptist, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Methodism, and Reformed.

It's not the present day Santa's fault that Christmas has become so over-commercialized, - that fault rests with all of us.  We have encouraged this through the years, by feeding into the "I didn't have it as a child, so I'm going to make sure my kids have it all,"  mentality.

We have killed the "Spirit of Christmas" with overindulgence of "things".

We call those things gifts - but they are nothing of the sort.

A gift is?

Here you go - try this.. type in the word gift in google search or whatever search engine you use, and see what you get.  Do it!  I double dog dare you!


I guarantee you won't get this:

gift, n. 1, something given; a present; 2, the power to give or bestow; as, the position is in his gift; 3, natural talent or ability; as, a gift for oratory.



My point is?

Overindulgence has killed our "Spirit", and this can be said of many things, not only Christmas.  We have become a society of entitled overindulgent people, who have forgotten where we started, how we started and who directed us from the very beginning.

We have to go back to the beginning, consider the then, and the now.  Think about the gift that makes not one day special - but every day of our life special.  I can only think of one gift that could possibly make everyone of us happy every day of our lives.

You won't find it in Santa's sleigh, nor in your Christmas stocking, nor under your tree.  You will have to dig a lot deeper for this gift, because it is buried deep within us all - in our hearts.

We call it LOVE - and it is the only gift that can truly make any human happy every day of their life... and we all have it to give.

So this Christmas - give the "gift" that really counts. 

Look up that person you were mad at 20 years ago, give them a call, talk to them and remind yourself what it was about them that made them so special to you, all those years ago...

Go visit someone who is alone.  Young or old - doesn't matter.  It could be the neighbour you know is alone, but you hardly ever talk to;  maybe a relative you haven't seen or even thought of for a long time. 

Take your child out for a coffee, a milkshake, a meal - just you and your child, one on one... they will love it, and so will you.

Call your parents, or better yet, surprise them with a visit when they least expect it... take donuts... or bake them some cookies...  give them the best gift ever - You!

Give the gift that really counts - store bought ones, won't last - but this one will last for a lifetime!

When you give this gift, I think you will find the Christmas Spirit.

 Truly you will - it will be You!